PDF summarizer

200 pages in, one page out.

Upload a PDF — a report, a research paper, a contract, a scanned handout. Readlis reads the whole thing and gives you the argument, the numbers, and the quotes.

5 free summaries a month. No card.

What you get

  • Handles long reports and papers without truncating the middle
  • Reads scanned, image-only PDFs with vision — not just text layers
  • Also accepts Word, PowerPoint, Excel, EPUB, and RTF files
  • Pulls figures, findings, and verbatim quotes you can cite
  • Saved to your searchable library and exportable to Notion or Markdown
  • Files are processed for your account only, never shared publicly

Made for

  • Annual reports and investor decks
  • Research papers before a literature review
  • Contracts and policy documents you need the gist of
  • Scanned lecture handouts and textbook chapters

How it works

  1. Step 1
    Upload the file

    Attach a PDF (or DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, EPUB, RTF) from the paste box. Document upload is a Pro feature; links and pasted text are free.

  2. Step 2
    Readlis extracts the text

    Text layers are parsed directly. If the PDF is a scan with no text layer, a vision model reads the pages instead, so image-only documents still work.

  3. Step 3
    Get a citable summary

    A TL;DR, structured key points, and verbatim quotes with locations. Ask follow-up questions, listen to it, or export it to your notes app.

Example outputs

Real examples of what Readlis returns. Every summary is generated fresh — these are samples for reference.

Research
Peer-reviewed paper — 34 pages

The intervention produced a modest but statistically significant effect, though the sample skewed young and the follow-up window was only 12 weeks.

  • Primary endpoint improved 8.4% versus control
  • Effect size shrank sharply in the over-55 subgroup
  • Authors flag self-reported adherence as the main limitation
  • Methods section quoted verbatim for your citation
Business
Annual report — 118 pages

Revenue growth slowed to single digits while gross margin expanded, driven by a mix shift away from hardware toward subscriptions.

  • Subscription revenue crossed 40% of total for the first time
  • Headcount fell 6% year over year with no reduction in R&D spend
  • Two risk factors were newly added versus the prior filing
  • Key tables summarized with the exact figures preserved

FAQ

Can it summarize scanned PDFs?+

Yes. If a PDF has no selectable text, Readlis falls back to a vision model that reads the pages as images, so scans and photographed documents still produce a summary.

Is the PDF summarizer free?+

Summarizing links and pasted text is free (5 a month). Uploading documents is included with Pro at $6.99/month and Pro Max at $14.99/month.

How big a PDF can I upload?+

Very long documents are supported — content is processed in sections and merged into one summary, so a few hundred pages is fine.

What other file types work?+

PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, EPUB, RTF, TXT, and Markdown.

Are my documents private?+

Yes. Uploads are tied to your account and protected by row-level security; nothing you upload is published or shown to other users unless you explicitly share a summary.

Can I ask questions about the document afterwards?+

Yes — every summary supports follow-up chat grounded in the extracted text, with citations back to the source passages.

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